


Written Word of Reason

by Jisatsu05



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Bullying, Dyslexia, Dyslexic!Rin, Manipulation, Neurodivergency, Profanity, Swearing, drug mention, neurodivergent, neurodivergent!rin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2020-05-19 03:31:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19348621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jisatsu05/pseuds/Jisatsu05
Summary: dyslexic!rin ... I don't see enough works with this premise, and I hc it 100% so here's a fic to satisfy everyone's neurodivergent needs.Basically, this is just Rin and his friends coming to terms with how to help Rin work around his dyslexia.note: I'm not dyslexic, but I do have some processing disorders; I'm writing from my experiences and research, so please be aware of this when reading.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did research in english and japanese, so yeah I know how hard it is to find anything concrete on the internet about dyslexia.

“I just don’t understand what’s going on. We’ve been helping him with his studies for a while now, but his test scores are still abominable,” Bon states. 

The Kyoto trio had taken some time out of their day to try thinking of another way to raise Rin’s test scores. His practical and oral tests had a significant increase in score recently, though still barely enough to pass the exorcist exam, but for an unknown reason, all his formal, written tests had continued to show a notably lower score in comparison. The unknown factor of the situation made everyone a bit more determined to resolve the issue because, with one look at Rin at any given time, it would be plain to see that he's giving his best effort and pouring his soul into his studies. 

Joining the conversation, Konekomaru adds, “There has to be something that we’re missing.”

“Maybe he’s just not test savvy,” Shima says. He twirls a pencil around effortlessly with his fingers as he thinks, “I know you aren’t exactly satisfied with that response, Bon, but you gotta look at the facts.”

“You’re right,” Bon replies begrudgingly, “So that’s why we are going to ignore the rest of your sentence for now.” His forehead scrunching as he brainstorms, Bon thinks aloud, “I’d go to the teachers with this if I thought they’d do anything, but I’m sure Rin wouldn’t even want us to do that. He’s too trusting for his own good, but even he has a point. True Cross Academy and the Vatican have simply taken advantage of him too many times.”

“Even Okumura-sensei seems at a loss,” Konekomaru adds disappointedly. “He probably thought that Rin would average the same as the rest of the students once he start putting in the effort.”

“He’d been putting in the effort for a while,” Bon suggests, “The problem is that no one was willing to give him some extra help up to this point. Now that it’s so late in his education, it’s hard to pinpoint what the real issue is.”

“It doesn’t help that he’s still beating himself up over it,” Konekomaru mumbles in addition.

Stuck in the seemingly endless whirl of uncertainty and speculation, the three end the day with no answers, falling asleep with possibilities still racking their thoughts. 

Unfortunately for the other two, part way through the night, an all-consuming sense of frustration overcomes Bon. Sitting up in bed, he reaches for his phone and unplugs it from the charging cord. After turning down the brightness which automatically stings his eyes, he opens his search engine and begins fervently typing away. Rin can’t be the only one with these struggles. 

Fighting against the poor internet in the old dormitory and drowsiness, the sleepless night passes with only a few vaguely similar ideas. After spending a fair amount of time playing with his words in the search bar, however, Bon starts to recognize the pattern of which words are bringing up results he actually finds useful. 

It isn’t until he’s found himself in a forum, does Bon come across a word he’s never read before. In the question displayed at the top of the page, an anonymous person explains their situation; their difficulties sound similar to Rin’s, but it’s a bit hard to compare due to the differences in the cram school styles of teaching and testing. Differences aside, though, one response in the comments reads, “The same types of things happen to me, too. I’ve got dyslexia. Do you think you could, too?”

‘Dyslexia.’ Most people had heard the word before, but Bon didn’t know anyone who struggled with it, and therefore, he didn’t know much of anything about it. He only vaguely understood that it slowed people down when reading. 

At the sudden ring of his alarm, Bon jolts in place before quickly shutting it off. Throwing his head against his pillow, he takes a deep breath before making a short note in his phone and getting ready for his morning jog. He certainly had enough to think about that music wouldn't even be necessary for today's run.

 

While waiting for cram school to start and for the Okumura twins to get to class, Bon takes the opportunity to consult the rest of the class on what he spent the night researching. At least, he would be able to get a feel for what the others knew about the subject. “Have you guys heard of dyslexia?” He asks.

Walking into the conversation, Kamiki rests against the table behind her, “Yeah. I’ve never met someone who has it, though.”

Shima leans toward Konekomaru and whispers, “Shocking coming from the chick who’s had a solid one friend up to now.” A grimace crosses Konekomaru’s face while a slight chuckle escapes Shima. 

Only after sending Shima a piercing glare, does Kamiki continue, “Anyway, since Shima obviously isn’t going to be of any help, I’ll keep talking. I mean, if I’m being honest, though, I don’t know much about it. I doubt that many people do, but it suppose it could be possible.”

Cutting the conversation far too short, Yukio walks in with Rin following a short distance behind. As the two put their things down, Yukio tells the class to take a seat. As Rin scoots his chair closer to the desk with a faint _scritch_ , he whispers to Shiemi, “Why was everyone huddled in the back? What were you guys talking about?”

Shaking her head dismissively, she replies, “It was nothing. Kamiki just had a speculation about another student,” before placing a finger over her lips in a pleasant, shushing motion and facing front.

“Well, class. Let’s begin.”

 

“Man, why did Yukio _have_ to give us a pop quiz,” Rin exasperates, “Like, he knows me! You think he could give me some heads up.” Shrugging his shoulder to push his sword back in place, he plays with his fingers in front of him. 

As Bon casts a glance Rin’s way, he explains, “It wouldn’t exactly be a pop quiz if you were given advance notice.”

“But you gotta agree…” Rin’s voice trails off. “I guess you’re right.”

Rin, Bon, Shima, Konekomaru, and Shiemi walk in near silence as they approach a vending machine. A metal on metal _clink_ accentuates the sound of birds basking in the warmth and far away voices. Each person thinks wordlessly on their own topics until the reach the dormitory again. 

As they walk inside, Shiemi breaks the silence with a timid voice. They pass Ukobach making preparations for dinner, and he greets their return with a broad wave and wide smile. With a few people returning the gesture, the group walks past to the stairs. “Um, perhaps not now,” Shiemi starts, “But could one of you quiz me in demon pharmaceutics later?” A chuckle escapes her, “I’ve still got some studying to do before I have the new set of names memorized properly.”

Without hesitation, Rin offers, “Sure. You’ve got flashcards right? That shouldn’t be too hard.”

“You can’t really take the time to help someone else until you can stay afloat yourself there, Rin,” Konekomaru stresses. “You can’t use that as an excuse to shirk on your studies,” he turns to Shiemi, “I can help you with that later.”

Speaking up, Rin says, “Well, before we talk about later, what are we going to do now?”

“You are going to start the essay we were just assigned. Or perhaps, I’m not sure, you could attempt your homework from the general course classes?”

Although looking slightly distressed at his options, Rin chooses to focus on the essay his brother assigned, explaining himself by admitting, “I didn’t really understand what went on in lit anyway, so I guess it’d be good to work on something I halfway understand.” After a pause, Rin asks, “Yukio said it could be typed, right?”

“Since when has he ever wanted anything typed,” Shima deadpans.

“Definitely not,” Bon says alongside him.

With a groan, Rin heads to his room to set his things down before taking only a textbook, a small stack of papers, and a pencil to the table which has been unanimously deemed the homework and study table. 

A bit later, the jingle of a doorknob alerts the room that Kamiki has come back. 

She spent some time after school with Paku, but Paku didn’t have enough extra time to come all the way to true cross and meet the others. Kamiki seemed pretty content having gone by herself, though.

She acknowledges the others but walks past wordlessly, only looking over the edge of the table to see what they were working on. Although she hadn’t particularly established eye contact with Bon, he takes the takes the opportunity to excuse himself from the table, and he follows after her. 

Outside the door to her and Shiemi’s room, he raps lightly on the door. 

Kamiki’s voice comes from inside, “Who is it?”

“Suguro.”

After a few moments of waiting, Bon watches as Kamiki shuffles out of the room and shuts the door behind her. Though still wearing the academy skirt, she’d changed into a more breathable top.

“Can I help you?” Her voice holds its expected irritated undertone as she leans with her hands behind her back against the doorway. 

“Sorry to bother, princess, but we weren’t able to finish our conversation earlier.”

She nods slowly in agreement, “Like I said, I don’t really know much — only that it exists.” Letting her gaze wander, she takes a second to think. “We’d have to do more research and take note of some of the smaller things he comes across before we draw any conclusions, but you should tell him what you think. He might know some stuff about this. At least, if I were in his position and trying that hard with a less than desired result, I’d have some questions, too.”

Gesturing somewhat with his hands, he wonders aloud, “If he knew about it, though, wouldn’t he have said something sooner? I sure as hell would want the extra help as soon as I could get it.”

Kamiki scoffs lightly and shakes her head, “I’m not sure how much you know either, but dyslexia is classified as a learning disability. Personally, I don’t care and that doesn’t change the person, but some people feel really touchy about that subject. It’s not strange for a person to deny something like that if they feel they’ll be outcasted for the label.”

“And Rin was already outcasted for most of his childhood.”

Shrugging in agreement, Kamiki adds, “If I were being treated that terribly, I’d likely hide that suspicion for as long as possible.”

A pause precedes Bon’s next words, “So do you think he knows?”

“I’m as knowledgeable as you. The only thing we could really do is ask.”

 

Returning to the group, Bon chooses to avoid the topic a little while longer, “I’m going to head to the academy library. There's a book I'm having trouble finding for one of the general studies classes.” A few question what he’s looking for momentarily, but he shrugs off their questions. Taking a hint, the others leave him be. 

Pulling his bag over his shoulder Bon heads to the library.

Since the word “dyslexia” had presented itself to him the night prior, he felt oddly determined to learn more about it. So many people had heard about it, but no one seemed to know more than its general definition. If learning more about it could help take some of the strain off both Rin and his teachers, time would be more than of the essence. When Rin started receiving help from those around him as an exwire, it was commonplace to assume he was still simply trying to adjust to a real workload and almost a year’s worth of missed information, but as time continued to pass, it became obvious to most that there was something, _something_ that just didn’t add up. 

With some more knowledge, years of educational struggle could be eased. If Rin were faced with this difficulty, even if it became more common knowledge, things wouldn’t magically be perfect — especially at True Cross Academy — but he’d get the proper schooling that he'd been denied his entire life. The thought alone fueled Bon with an unrelenting determination to push forward. 

 

After a frustrating search on the databases and the entire nonfiction section of the library, Bon surrenders and admits that there isn’t a book on the desired topic in the apparently-not-big-enough library. With a sigh, he reclaims his bag and heads to the exit. However, he’s momentarily stopped by a librarian behind the front desk. “Would you like me to help you find something,” the woman offers in a fair voice. 

Bon hums at the unexpected question before focusing on his words. “Yes, please. Would you happen to have a book on dyslexia,” he asks.

“Dyslexia?” The woman repeats Bon’s words seemingly unknowing, and then she excuses herself for a moment before turning toward the desktop in front of her and checking. Without a moment's delay, Bon recognizes the effort as a lost cause. “I apologize,” she starts regretfully, “But we don’t have any books on that topic at our library.”

With a quick nod of his thanks, Bon is out the door. 

 

Back at the dorms, Rin, Shima, and Shiemi have taken to reading while Konekomaru, Izumo, and Yukio continue to work on their homework. Hopefully it means they all finished their work without issue, but it's more likely that someone found themself getting frustrated and taking a break in order to calm down.

“Hey, Okumura sensei,” Bon starts as he kicks his shoes off, “Can I talk to you?” Sparing a glance at Rin, he continues, “I’ve been faced with a bit of a challenge, and I want to know what you think.”

Laying his pencil across his paper, Yukio responds, “Of course, Suguro.” 

Bon nudges his head and shoulder slightly as a silent request to take the conversation to the hall. In compliance, Yukio stands and follows him. Once Bon is confident the two are out of earshot, he comes to a stop, and Yukio awaits the topic of conversation. Yukio’s expression seems unnervingly calm, yet stoic at the same time. 

“I’ve got a suspicion about your brother.”

The statement is short and dry. Narrowing his eyes partially, Yukio urges monotonously, “Continue.” Given the number of things that have happened since enrolling in this academy, no one can blame Yukio for immediately becoming more alert at such an introduction. 

As Bon continues, the surrounding air radiates caution and a mute sense of contempt, “It’s no secret that your brother isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, but — still in accordance with the metaphor — what if there was a way we could find a way to sharpen the knife rather than just putting more force into making it work properly.” Trying to get a grasp on his thoughts, Bon takes a deep breath and attempt to explain his thoughts more clearly, “What I mean to ask is do you think Rin could have dyslexia?” Yukio stands silently in thought for a moment as he thinks. With a stutter to Bon’s next words, he continues, “I thought maybe you’d know some more about it than me… since you’re a teacher and since you’re his brother. Has it ever crossed your mind?”

Yukio crosses his arms over his chest and sways his body almost unnoticeably. “I’ll be honest, the thought has made its way into my mind on more than a few occasions, but it’s not something that’s common. Nearly no one here knows anything about the subject,” he breathes dejectedly, “I barely know about it. I wouldn’t know where to start even if he were dyslexic.” A brief pause separates his thoughts, “Though, I haven’t exactly tried to learn anymore about it since early junior high.” Yukio lets out a frustrated groan, “He was well on his way to becoming a dropout even then, but I wasn’t the best brother I could have been either; it was easier for ten-year-old me to place blame on my brother’s so-called lack of discipline than place it on something I knew nothing about.”

Bon addresses Yukio’s words with a grim nod. “Even the legendary youngest exorcist has some fatal flaws, I see… So do you still think it’s possible?”

As he averts his gaze Yukio says, “I’m not really sure anymore.” Nervous tendencies suppressed, he doesn’t stop, “Yes, I used to be fairly knowledgeable for the average Japanese person, but now — six, seven years later — I probably know just as much as you at this point.”

“Well, would you be willing to help me research, teach,” Bon interjects.

Holding a quick internal debate, Yukio then responds, “Of course. Have you talked to Rin about it yet?” 

“No. Did you ever?”

“A few times, but he either never took me seriously or denied it. I’d venture to say he probably doesn’t even remember those few conversations now.” A drawn out silence fills the air, “Could we not say anything to him yet? Not until we learn more at least.”

Recognizing that there’s something going unsaid, Bon consciously makes an effort to proceed as if he hadn’t sensed the temporary change in atmosphere. “The instant we _do_ feel confident in a conclusion, though, we’ve got to tell him. That is my only objection.” His posture stands as solidly as his statement. 

When Yukio hesitantly agrees, Bon informs him about his visit to the school library, his encounter with the librarian, and the general lack of accessibility to any quality information or studies regarding the topic. 

“Oh,” Yukio suddenly gasps, “This hadn’t occurred to me until just now, but perhaps you should access English sites. There’s more studies and recognition outside of Japan. You are fairly advanced in your English studies. I could qualify as passable. I recommend you try some foreign sites. Have you talked to the others about this at all?”

“Just this morning.”

“Tell them they can join me in scouting bookshops, libraries, and databases in the surrounding metropolitan area.” At that, the two agree on a few other things before returning to the group.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the japanese jargon is how you know I wrote this for myself :)  
> ・ _meibutsu_ = specialty shop; sells specialty food products native to the area; many are dine-in shops but not all  
> ・every japanese kanji can be written in hiragana. hiragana is just phonetic spelling. example: 名物 = めいぶつ = meibutsu  
> ・時 (time) and 持 (hold) are the kanji that Yukio noticed Rin avoiding  
> 

The following day after their exorcist classes end, Yukio invites Rin to go to the library outside of the city with him. “There’s a mission closer to the evening, but I need to get something that isn’t in our library.”

Scoffing playfully, Rin answers, “Only you’d go out of your way to go to a library, four eyes.”

“You don’t get much time to go off-campus,” Yukio explains, “And besides, I happen to know there’s a _meibutsu_ shop not even a block away from where I need to go.” 

After debating with his sweet tooth, Rin sheepishly agrees to join. However, as the brothers walk away from the school grounds, Rin turns his head and starts again, “So why’d you invite me? You trying to ease some guilty conscience or something?”

“No.” He answers Rin plainly. Although he says no more, Yukio casts a sideways glance. 

Using one of Mephesto’s keys, the two make it to the outskirts of the campus quickly before hurrying to catch a train out of the area. Upon reaching their destination, they shuffle uncomfortably off the bus and begin the short final leg of the walk. 

“So what are you looking for, Yukio,” Rin asks. 

Shrugging lightly, he shifts his gaze to look at Rin, “Just a history book. It probably wouldn’t interest you, but I need it for a report.”

Looking to the bag at Yukio’s side, Rin adds, “Well, hope you find it, but I’m not sure there’s enough room in your satchel…”

“I bet you there is.”

The brothers split paths once they reach the library, Rin going toward the juvenile fiction section and Yukio bolting for the nonfiction portion of the shelves. However, merely a few minutes later, Rin curiously peeks his head down the aisle where Yukio is. Walking closer Rin looks at the wall of books in front of him. “... Psychology?” He reads the large, calligraphic sign above him after a moment of staring. “I thought you needed some sort of history book? Why would ya need a psychology book.” 

Looking over Yukio’s shoulder, Rin tries to look closer at the open book in his brother’s hands, but faced with a brick wall of texts, he takes a step back in surrender. “Actually, nevermind. I’m not brainy enough for this.” Changing the subject he continues, “I’m going to the _meibutsu_ shop now. Do you want something?”

“Just buy me one of whatever you get,” Yukio request as he lowers the book to his side. Pulling a one thousand yen bill from his bag, he says, “It shouldn’t cost more than this. If it does, we can split just one.”

 

“What you say doesn’t matter. Didn’t you know? Apparently, I can’t hear.” A ghost type demon sits against the wall with her legs extended and crossed at the heel. In her hand, she plays with a set of earphones, but they are connected to nothing, and they aren’t in her ears.

The night’s mission had sent the group to the breaker room in Mephy Land, and the girl in front of them seemed to only be about twelve years old, if not younger. 

“Do you know where you are,” Shiemi asks.

“Apparently, I can’t hear.”

Unsure how to proceed, a silence falls over the room for a moment before Shima pulls his phone from his pocket. “Maybe we could write something down,” he suggests. 

As Shima receives a few nods of agreement, he asks what he should type. When Yukio holds out his hand for the phone, Shima passes it over. “Let’s ask them why they’re here first,” Yukio prompts aloud as he types.

Rin speaks up as he waits for Yukio to finish typing, “Can I show the phone to her?”

With a shrug, Yukio agrees and hands the phone to Rin. He walks forward slowly then kneels down in front of the girl. Turning the phone so the screen is facing away from him, she reads the written question. “It was loud outside,” she explains while raising her line of sight from the phone. 

The group looks collectively perplexed. “I thought she couldn’t hear,” Bon reiterates.

“Ask her about it, Rin,” Yukio says from behind.

He fumbles, “Oh… ‘kay.” Facing forward again, he hears the quiet murmur of conversation continue behind him. After taking a moment to think about what to write, he shows the girl the phone again: “What was loud?”

“Everything. The people, the machines, the birdies.”

“So can you hear,” the group has Rin ask.

“Papa said I never listened, but I did. I just never heard what anyone said.”

“What do you mean?”

The girl chuckles, “You don’t believe me either, see. It’s always too loud, but no one else notices. Maybe if no one but you and me talked it would be easier to hear.”

As Rin sends a tentative glance behind himself, and all side conversations cease. Looking the girl in the eye again, Rin asks cautiously, “Can you hear me now?”

The girl smiles, “Yeah! … The clock is still a bit noisy, though.” Her words cause each person in the room to focus on the _tic-tok_ which indeed rings fairly notably in the otherwise quiet building. No one had noticed it before. 

“Your ears are really good. You can hear quiet things,” Rin complements.

“Your friend’s bag rustles against his clothes, too.”

Gradually, things start to make sense, “When you were outside, there were too many small sounds and you couldn’t focus, right?” A nod. “But why are you in the breaker room?”

“I wanted it to be less loud.” She points above her, “I didn’t see the stuff above me, though. It hurt a lot more than my ears did.” On the wall above her head, an open breaker box is mounted with the door partially open. An toolbox that's also been left ajar sits on a table a few feet away, too; a worker must have been in the middle of maintenance. She pulls her legs in and covers her ears, “Why is everything still so loud?”

Bon interjects from behind before Rin can answer, “Auditory processing disorder.” Everyone turns to look at him. “Your brain just works slightly different than most.” Realizing he has to explain quite a bit, Bon goes to Rin and asks to borrow the phone. He types as he speaks further, “When you hear every small sound, it’s hard to pick out anything. You take in too much information at once. Even when you try to listen, actually hearing what people say can be difficult.”

Once the girl reads what Bon had written she looks up, “Apparently, I can’t hear.”

“And that’s okay,” Konekomaru adds. Each person takes their turn of giving a word of encouragement.

With a grin, the girl says, “I’m glad the _tic-tok_ was quiet enough for me to hear you today,” before she disappears.

Rin turns to face the rest of the group again, “No one believed her when she was alive, and it tormented her so much that she wound up as a demon in death,” he breathes in conclusion. Turning to Bon, he asks, “How did you know what was wrong with her?”

“I only learned about it a few weeks ago myself. If we'd had this mission a few weeks ago, I'm not sure what we would have done to help.”

Konekomaru jumps in, “And there wasn’t anything wrong with her. The problem was that no one cared enough to figure out how to help her. When we explained what no one else would, she finally felt normal and accepted. That’s all she ever wanted in her life.”

 

“Hey, Yukio,” Rin calls tentatively when the brothers are back in their room. Each of them sit at their respective desk, Yukio reading his psychology book and Rin working on the essay that had been assigned.

“Yeah, Rin?” 

Neither boy raises his gaze. A moment passes where Rin says nothing. Yukio catches the moment of hesitation as Rin speaks, “Why do you think no one helped that girl? Do you think we’ve ever brushed off someone’s issues like that?” He bounces his pencil in his hand while he thinks, “Even when she told her parents, they didn’t seem to care. Do you think we’ve ignored something like that before — something we just didn’t understand?”

Yukio rubs his thumb over the title on the front page of the book in his hands. “You’re too caring to miss something like that, Rin. I doubt you’ve ever done something like that.” 

“You have?”

He keeps his eyes trained on his book, “I sure hope not.”

 

A few nights later as Yukio is reading over the essays that were submitted to him, he puts in a conscious effort as he reads over his brother’s. Although he hadn’t noticed before, Yukio sees many instances where Rin wrote one character, then erased it to replace it with the proper one. With each erasing, it became easier for Yukio to see that his brother would still sometimes switch characters like “さ” and “ち” despite Japanese being the only language he’s spoken his entire life. Of course, not every character was like this, but the sheer amount of erase marks was alarming.

Glancing over to Rin who had fallen asleep early and was comfortably in bed, Yukio sighs as he writes his findings down on a sticky note. Thinking more on the subject, Yukio notices more oddities in his brother’s writings; though Rin had always been reluctant to use a majority of upper level kanji, he also consistently refused to write certain low level kanji that a first or second grader would know. Not once could Yukio recall a time when Rin had written out the kanji for time. Rin insisted on using the hiragana. One instance presents itself prominently in Yukio’s mind, however, where Rin did attempt to use the kanji in a sentence but ended up mistaking it with the kanji for hold. Granted, they look similar, but a native shouldn’t have any difficulty differentiating them. 

Looking at the page in full, Yukio is baffled at exactly how much of Rin’s writing is in hiragana. Even many of the new words which he had learned in his exorcist classes had simply been written phonetically. The realization leaves Yukio absolutely distraught. A page of ninety percent hiragana sits in front of him and a fair number of poor erases litter sets of similar characters.

Not needing more time to reflect on the situation, Yukio watches Rin sleep and desperately wants to wake him up and apologize for letting him struggle through schooling and everything else life has thrown at him. Still, Yukio says nothing as he finishes grading Rin’s paper. All things considered, Rin didn’t do that poorly. When Yukio’s finished writing the grade at the top of the page, he tucks the rest of the ungraded essays away in his desk, and he pulls his sheets over him in bed as he ends his night early. 

Praying, Yukio apologizes to his brother and father, hoping that gives him the strength he needs to help Rin after years of everyone ignoring the issue.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *makes "I don't know" sound*

“You’ve gotta tell him,” Kamiki states firmly when Yukio points out his findings.

Rin had been called into Mephisto’s office, and consequently is now late to class. However, this gives the group some much needed time to process their thoughts. Most of them had come across at least one new piece of knowledge that would be of interest to the group. It just so happened that Yukio was the person to start the discussion since he had the most to add.

“But… this could just be me being overprotective. Have you guys come across anything yet,” Yukio asks.

Crossing his arms, Bon says, “It’s not like we need much else to be fairly certain of what going on.” 

“We had a reading assignment in our history textbook recently,” Shima starts, “Shiemi, Rin, and I did the first section by ourselves, but Rin’s answers showed that he obviously struggled.” With a sigh, Shima continues, “So I pretended that it was too quiet and read the next part out loud. Rin’s accuracy shot up to almost a hundred percent.” He shrugs and swings his feet from his spot on the desk. “You know that’s basically unheard of for him…” Everyone gives Yukio a second to think, then Shima continues, “You can’t exactly brush all this off as coincidence.”

A door shuts off to the group’s side. “What’s a coincidence,” Rin asks as he hops on the desk next to Shima.

“The fact that Mephisto Pheles only held you in his office for five minutes,” Yukio says in an attempt to divert attention away from the previous conversation.

Bon clears his throat and all eyes fall on him, “Something you want to say, teach?”

Looking Bon in the eyes, Yukio says evenly, “For now, I only have to say that it’s time for class.” As Rin and Shima move from their spots on the desk and each person returns to their seat, Yukio taps on his watch discreetly and indicates that he’ll say something later. Such a conversation could very well go over easier outside of public view, so at the front of the room, Yukio starts, “Okay, class, today we’ve got a field exercise.” 

 

When the lesson comes to an end, Yukio tells Rin that they can meet outside the school’s main entrance in fifteen minutes. Before the other students filter out, however, Shiemi comes up to Yukio, “Um, I know it’s not my place, but if you really think telling Rin that he might have dyslexia could make school easier for him, then please talk to him soon.” 

Yukio smiles, yet he plays with his fingers down by his sides. “I was going to talk to him today, Shiemi,” he explains, “I just feel like I've failed him as a brother by not acknowledging what was occurring sooner.”

“You did,” Shiemi tells him, “You we’re just too young and inexperienced to know how to do it properly. You can make amends for the past if you talk to him now, Yuki.”

With a deep sigh, Yukio lets out a small, “I guess.”

 

“Hey, Rin,” Yukio calls as the aforementioned boy exchanges his button-up school shirt for a night shirt.

“Hmm,” Rin responds as he pulls the shirt over his head.

“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about. Nothing bad. I’m just not sure how you’ll react.”

“Well, that’s always a comforting start to a conversation,” Rin deadpans sarcastically as he hops onto his bed. “What’s up?”

“First,” he starts, “Do you have any memory of when I said I thought you might have dyslexia as a kid?”

“Very vaguely,” Rin offers cautiously, “But what’s that got to do with anything?”

“It wasn’t much of a thing in the past — partially because you were on your way to becoming a dropout and partially because I wasn’t the brother I should have been — but since you’ve been back in school and your actually putting in a very significant amount of effort with your studies, I really think you have might have dyslexia.”

Rin’s eyes become skeptical, and a slight accusatory tone makes its way into his words, “And what nerdy book convinced you of that? Just like when we were kids, I can read perfectly fine. I’m just not really textbook smart. Grades don’t go from two to ninety-two overnight.”

“Rin,” Yukio says firmly, “I’m a teacher. I talk with other teachers. I talk to the people you spend every day with. I wasn’t the person who brought this back up. Suguro did.” As Rin averts his gaze, Yukio continues, “This is something I should have helped you with earlier, but at the very least, I can’t let you struggle needlessly through the rest of the year.”

“Don’t believe everything you hear,” Rin says, “Just because one person says I may not be normal doesn’t mean it’s true.”

As Yukio listens to the increasing hostility in his brother’s words, he tries to calm the situation, “I really don’t want this to turn into a fight, Rin. I just… Can you calm down first, so I can show you something? And I didn’t magically decide, ‘hey, my brother is dyslexic,’ because one person said it. Have I ever been that type of person?”

Across the room, Rin takes a few calming breaths before apologizing to Yukio and walking over to his desk. Pulling out Rin’s essay, Yukio holds it in front of them. He points to one of the characters with a faded, erased character under it. “These eraser marks,” Yukio starts, “You pretty much only make them on characters that look similar.” He looks back at Rin to make sure he’s following along, “And you may not have noticed, but I think you do the same thing with kanji.” Moving his pen off the page, he tells Rin, “Look how you favor phonetic spellings for certain kanji.”  Choosing a certain example, Yukio places his pen to a specific sentence, “You go out of your way to write the hiragana for ‘listen’ even though it’s a first grade kanji, but then… here,” he moves his pen, “You have no trouble writing a high level kanji taught in senior high since it doesn’t look like anything else.” Setting the paper down, he positions his body to face Rin, “There’s nothing wrong with that. You’re just like the ghost that was in the breaker room; you’re brain just processes things a bit differently.”

Stepping back and taking a seat on Yukio’s bed, Rin admits, “Okay, you’re the smart one. You’re probably right. Just,” his voice falters, “Don’t tell anyone else — no one — okay?”

“You should talk to your other teachers at least, Rin. It’d only make your academic life easier.”

“And what about my social life.”

“What about it,” Yukio questions.

After a moment of thinking, Rin shakes his head, “Forget it. You can say something if you want, Yukio, but I’m not going to go out of my way for something like that.”

There’s more Yukio wants to ask, but Rin gets up and walks out of the room with Kuro following close behind. The pitter patter of footsteps is all that can be heard. 

Kuro’s high pitched voice rings in Rin’s ears, “Rin! Rin! I know you can hear me…”

“Obviously, Kuro,” Rin finally says as the two make it to the top floor of the building. “I just don’t really want to be with other people now.” Taking a seat, Rin leans with his back flush against the wall, and cool air seeps in from outside. 

With a tiny, graceful leap, Kuro settles himself onto Rin’s lap. “What was Yukio talking about in there? Dyslexia? I’ve never heard of it.”

Bringing a hand to Kuro’s head to scratch it, Rin explains, “It’s something that makes it hard for some people to read and write… Don’t worry ‘bout it, Kuro,” Rin says as Kuro purrs below him, “We probably won’t talk about it again.”

“But you might have it, right,” Kuro asks curiously, “Yukio said that, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, he said that, but he’ll never get me to say it.” 

A bit perplexed, Kuro looks up at Rin before leaning into him heavily. Understanding that Rin isn’t in the mood to talk, Kuro just takes the opportunity to cuddle into the warmth of Rin’s shirt quietly. Eventually, Rin starts to doze off with Kuro in his lap. 

 

“Hey. Hey, wake up.” Rin’s shoulder is jostled as Bon’s voice reaches his ears. As Rin rubs his eyes and pulls himself out of the realm of sleep, Bon asks, “What the heck are you doing up here?”

“Sleeping,” Rin deadpans with a tired expression. He looks toward his lap, and lightly begins stroking Kuro’s back. “Hey, buddy, time to get up,” he says in a loud whisper. Kuro awakes with a slight trill, but he’s still groggy as Rin repositions Kuro in his arms to carry him around. Turning back to Bon, Rin asks, “What time is it?”

“Morning… You must have slept up here all night.” Turing back to the main hall, Rin follows behind. “You worried your brother half to death. He thought he pissed you off and you ran away or something.”

Rin shakes his head, still careful to not wake Kuro, “Nah, I just wasn’t up to dealing with people last night.”

The two go down the staircase in relative silence, but at some point, Bon gives into his curiosity, “Look, Rin… I’m no good with these types of situations, but Yukio told me about what happened.”

“Nothing happened. I just was being stubborn.”

Uninclined to elaborate, Rin says nothing more, and Bon takes that as his sign to start speaking again with a shrug, “You don’t exactly seem happy with how last night went either.” The two detour at Rin’s room, so he can put Kuro down. Shuffling slightly, Kuro seems as if he’s waking up but he curls back into himself and leans into the blankets.

“The last thing I need is another reason for people to torment me.”

“Look, Rin, I doubt anyone would blame you. Anyone who would chastise someone for something out of their control is an ignorant jerk.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time someone was an ‘ignorant jerk.’” Although there’s more that should be said by both boys, an underwhelming, “Let’s just talk about something else,” is all that escapes Rin’s lips. 

Everyone involved in the situation, understands that ignoring the problem is just as precarious as confronting it. It feels as if trying to handle an ancient, weathered artifact from the past. One can only wonder if there is a proper way to handle something which was already fragile to begin with. 

 

“I know you don’t want to talk about this, but ignoring the situation is what made things get this serious in the first place.”

“So what if I was bullied for it when I was younger, Yukio, what wasn’t I bullied for back then?” From his bed, Rin raises his gaze from his game and cranes his neck to look at Yukio.

“Why didn’t you say anything? Dad could have done something about it. The teachers could have done something.”

“Then you would have known.” The words sting. His response is short, but it hits Yukio hard. Rin has already gone back to playing his game unable to hold Yukio’s gaze; the words felt wrong in his mouth, and apprehension persists subtly throughout the conversation. 

Yukio tries to speak, but his voice fails him, “I…” 

“Stupid kids get bullied by smart kids. Sure people started calling me a poor dropout, but it’s better than being called a first grade retard.” At this, Yukio realizes just how much Rin kept from him as a child. There’s likely more that’s buried under years of secrecy. Rin takes a shaky breath and explains, “The kids convinced me that you’d see their way.” His voice becomes a bit stronger, “The last thing I needed then was for my brother to hate me, too.” Though Rin tries to appear relaxed, tension seeps into his shoulders and leaves him feeling stiff.

“Is that why you wouldn’t let me bring it up?”

“I’d rather you just think I was stupid.”

A knock sounds, and a few second pass before Shiemi tenatively opens the door, peeking her head in. “Um, Yuki, Rin, is everything okay?” At Rin’s welcoming gesture, Shiemi walks inside and shuts the door behind her, “I haven’t seen you guys for a while, and I was worried.”

 

“Did you hear the demon kid’s gettin’ special treatment from the headmaster.” 

“The kid’s pretty dumb, but I guess even he can intimidate the higher-ups.” 

The barely-there whispers reach Rin’s ears, and a flash of terror takes his breath away. The rumors could mean anything, yet Rin fixes his bag tighter over his shoulders before making his way to class as quickly as possible. 

Keep your eyes down if you don’t want trouble. That's been his motto since becoming a page.

In class, Rin places his bag and kurikara down beside him. Getting his papers ready for class, he starts to scan the material in front of him, but the effort is fruitless. His mind is preoccupied. Of course, the teachers at true cross academy knew the new developments of his situation. Yukio refused to let another day pass without Rin’s teachers at least being aware of what was going on. Although there had yet to be an official diagnosis, a thorough conversation and some convincing symptoms were enough to convince some teachers that there was an issue. 

However, there were also an unfortunate amount of teachers who refused to accept that Rin had been anything but lazy, the problem child, which they had deemed him as when he first began studying under them. Even worse, the few teachers who agreed there was a valid cause for concern were at a loss of what steps to take next. For a student whose grades are severely lacking, in a country where the issue is not common knowledge, the path forward presented itself about as prominently as a vaguely trampled grass path.

As much as Yukio hoped the teachers would go out of their way to find ways to better accommodate Rin until he could receive a diagnosis and more advice, he understood that the task would be left only to those close to Rin. Though there were adult figures who expressed sympathy and a compassion to help, none of them wanted to go out of their way to find a solution that wasn’t readily available.

That left the task in the hands of a small group of unexperienced, unqualified, but exceptionally determined teenagers.

That’s how the majority of the exorcist class started sacrificing an extra hour or two at the end of each day to research. What doctors could or would give the diagnosis? Both a visit to the academy’s doctor, who was too underqualified in the specialty, and to the nearest general practitioner had proved futile. Were there ways to ease the symptoms and make academic and social life easier? Was there a way to make the struggles more common knowledge, so no one else would be forced to wait decades to realize they aren’t alone? These questions, for the upcoming days, week, and even months, left the group troubled. 

Perhaps a week or so after they began their search, they came across a doctor who, although did not specialize in dyslexia, focused significantly more on neurodivergence more than the average Japanese doctor. Though many more results appeared on english sites, leaving the country was simply too drastic and would only be taken as a final measure. Seeing as this doctor was a two and a half hour train ride away, Yukio set up an appointment for the Rin for two weeks later. 

From the moment Yukio confronted Rin on the possibility of having dyslexia, Rin had been more than stubborn, to say the least. When shown support from his friends, his vehement denial and rejection of the idea lessened, but he wasn’t actively doing much of anything to help resolve things. When asked questions from others, he’d answer with a short, to-the-point response. He might watch over someone’s shoulder as they scroll the internet, but he’d then quickly turn his back and return to that with which he had been previously preoccupied.

Even as the two sit silently on the train, waiting to arrive at the station where they’d transfer, Yukio found himself pondering why exactly Rin continued to express so much discomfort and resistance regarding something his friends expressed acceptance toward. It would be different if he felt comfortable around his friends but not in a conservative society, but even toward the people he cares about, he’s always on edge. 

An internalized stigma is the only answer Yukio can come to. Glancing toward his brother, Yukio sees Rin with his eyes closed, his head lolling lightly back and forth along with the movement of the train. As it comes to a stop, a line of people flood in. Seeing a bright yet frail old man scan the train car for a place to sit, Yukio stands. “Please,” he offers the man while moving out of the way. 

Now holding on to a ceiling handle, Yukio spends the next few minutes just watching his brother get the rest he desperately needs. It isn’t until this moment of pure observation and reflection that Yukio notes the lack of tension which had apparently riddled most every part of Rin’s body in the past few weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ!! THIS FIC NEEDS YOUR OPINION!
> 
> Okay, I have a completed version of this fic, but it involves 2 OCs and it kinda had a mind of its own. 
> 
> Would you all prefer I continue down this path and update with the already completed version OR would you prefer if I rewrote the rest of the fic with Reiji Shiratori acting as an antagonistic character (Rin's demon heritage would be acknowledged more in this verson)? 
> 
> The next chapter of both versions are finished, but updates for the rewritten version could be less consistent after this point (since I need time to write new chapters).
> 
> PLEASE COMMENT YOUR THOUGHTS!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmmm, no excuses here. I just didn't want to post because I'm LAZY. I didn't get an overwhelming response to my question at the end of the last chapter, so I'm just going to continue with the originally intended plot that has the OCs. Enjoy :)

When Rin and Yukio got back to the dorms, the moon showed itself prominently in the sky. “Look, Rin, I want to help, but you’ve got to explain the changes you want to make to your teachers yourself. They already know the premise of what’s going on and I’ll stand by your side, but you’ve got to tell them.”

After a prolonged moment of silence, Rin speaks up telling Yukio that he’ll do it by himself tomorrow, but he says no more before gathering some of his things to study in another room. What Yukio failed to notice, however, was that Rin’s promise was about as fragile as the creaking sounds of the cool, wooden floor.

 

“You can stop your terribly loud whispers,” Rin states in an surprisingly monotone voice, “I’ve been hearing the things you guys are saying. Anything else you wanna tell me to my face.” The bustle of students trying to make it to their next class somehow makes Rin feel oddly singled out in his conversation, yet no people stop nor bat an eye at the altercation they unknowingly pass.

“What’d ya think of the letter we left ya, half-wit?” The taller of the two — a boy with dark brown hair, similar eyes to match, and an expensive looking wrist watch — bellows out his question as he suppresses a laugh. 

To his side, a tall girl clad in the school uniform and a devious smirks with her hands behind her back, “Oh, come on, Kaoru. You know the moron can’t read. No need to belittle him like that.” A few passerbys cast a glance the loud insult, but aside from a concerned gaze and slight hesitation, each person turns their gaze downward before scurrying to class as if they'd noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

“That’s a bold assumption for you to make,” Rin says, “I could read it, and I wasn’t exactly happy with what was on it. I will admit your handwriting could use some work though.”

“I don’t need some illiterate loser telling my _I_ need to work on my writing.” The boy, apparently named Kaoru, scowls and continues with venom lacing his voice, “You probably couldn’t even read the damn letter.”

“Calm it, Kaoru. This dude was basically a dropout, haven’t you heard. Don’t waste your energy or anger on ‘im.” Turning away from her companion, the nameless girl faces Rin again, “And you,” she shrugs, “The bell’s going to ring in a minute, so I don’t have much time. You’re impressive. Well, you’re impressive for someone without a functioning brain.” With an internal cringe, the girl continues, “Not only did you raise your grades the most anyone ever has over the past semester, you still have some of the lowest grades at the academy.”

“Look, I get you’re buddy-buddy with the headmaster, but how far’s that gonna get ya?”

Rin’s eyes shift back and forth as the people in front of him take turns talking. “You’re about as useful as a broken glass, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re useless. In hands of the right people, even a nothing can become something. I guess what I’m saying is that you’ve got something I want, something we want, and I’ve got something you want.”

She says nothing more.

“What could you possibly have that I want,” Rin questions.

“Nothing.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Nothing. But you’ve got nothing to lose, so there’s gotta be something, right?” 

The bell sounds as the two start to back into their class, “Well, that’s time. Bye, loser.”

As they turn away, the girl taps Kaoru’s elbow. He tries to casually let a piece of paper fall out of his pocket, but the clumsy motions he makes on his way out kills any attempt at sublty he hoped to have. The door in front of Rin shuts, and the bell quiets. Bending down, he ignores the fact that he’s late to his next class. With a slight crinkle, Rin opens the letter. His expression remains bland as he reads the note, unsure of what to expect: _We know a guy who’s got some connections and is pretty decent at hacking. You better think about your situation carefully or else we’ll get him to fuck with your grades._

With a sigh, Rin refolds the paper and places it in his pocket. This is the last thing he needs. Although he understands that the information on the note very well could be fake, it could also be one hundred percent true. He doesn’t have much of a choice but to, at the very least, see what they want. 

Logically, Rin knows he can tell Yukio, but emotionally, he feels more comfortable handling the situation on his own. He’s done it before. It’s been a while, but he’d rather not drag his friends into petty conflict. 

 

One afternoon a few days later, Rin's lifted from his studies as Kaoru and his friend, who Rin had learned was called Haruna, walk right up to him.

“Can’t do anything on your own, can you guys,” Rin chastises.

“Apparently you can’t either as you’ve got a blank page in front of ya.” 

That was due to little more than poor timing. “What do you want?”

“You’re going to go to a small town just off the Chuuo line and get a treat for me and Kaoru there. It’s too out of the way for us. We’ve got to study. It doesn’t matter whether you do since it won’t make a difference, so why not go and get yourself something, too.” Haruna pulls out her phone and texts Rin the store name and the stop to get off at. She requested his number, so it’d be “easier to contact him” at their convenience.

Rin pulls out his phone silently. The way he understands it, there isn't much of an choice available. Looking at the map, he opens his mouth to explain that riding the Chuuo line that far and then having to look for a store he’s never heard of before will cause him to get back to the dorms late, but he changes his mind and stays quiet.

That’s how, as he rides the train wordlessly to his destination and back, Rin keeps himself preoccupied with stress from his unfinished work as he ignores his texts from Yukio. He was given no money to buy things. Pulling out his own money, he buys the requested treats with a nod to the clerk. He’ll have to explain away the missing money to Yukio. 

“There’s your food,” Rin say pushing the goods toward Haruna. Walking to the front of their dorm, he tries to end the interaction as quickly as possible. 

“Oh, thanks.” She takes the food gently from Rin and is surprised at the appreciation he receives, but the surprise quickly disappears as she continues, “And by the way, starting tomorrow, you’re making lunch for me. I’m tired of the expensive cafeteria food. My parent’s would probably be happy if I spent less, too.” Rin goes to protest holding up a hand, but the door shuts in his face just after Haruna says, “Well, bye.” 

 

“You haven’t talked to your teachers yet, have you Rin?”

“How did you know,” he asks as he lifts his tired eyes from the paper in front of him.

“It’s past midnight, I’m done working, and you aren’t.” Yukio begins packing up his things for tomorrow, “You said you were working at the library earlier, too. You weren’t even looking at your phone. Even still, you’ve got a lot of work that you haven’t finished for tomorrow.” Although glad Yukio believed his bluff, Rin is less than happy to having admitted that he didn’t speak to his teachers. As Yukio places the last book in his bag, he tells Rin, “I’ll go with you after school tomorrow, but you’ve got to get this fixed… And I know you have a lot of work still, but don’t stay up too late.”

“Thanks, Yukio,” Rin says before looking back toward his work. 

However, despite his brother expressing concern, Rin didn’t finish his work until nearly two in the morning, and at that time, he went to the kitchen to start preparing Yukio and Haruna’s lunches. There wouldn’t be enough money to feed himself lunch, too. He’d just have to deal for the time being. He'd be able to find a work around eventually, but he needed to act accordingly until that time.

At about quarter to four, a small knock comes from behind Rin. Casting a glance over his shoulder, he sees Shima in the doorway. His loose fist is still halfway raised, knuckles facing the wall at the door's side. “What the hell are you doing up?”

“I could say the same to you, Shima.”

“I went to take a leak when I heard pots and pans banging. Now, again, what the hell are you doing up? Did you even sleep?”

“I’m cooking. Can’t you tell? Well, I guess it is the dead of night…” 

“Try almost the brink of morning.”

Eyes widening, Rin moves away from the prep work in front of him to get a view of a window, and sure enough, sun is just barely breaking over the horizon casting a dull, shadow-like glow through the window. “You’re kidding me,” Rin whines.

“Dude, you should go to bed. You look dead tired. You aren’t gonna make it through the day if you get no sleep.”

With a shake of his head, Rin explains, “I’ve still got work to do.”

“Here’s an idea,” Shima proposes confidently while cocking his head, “Why don’t you just take tomorrow off.”

Rin shakes his head once more, “That’s the last thing I have time for. I’m gonna get back to work. You should go back to sleep.”

The room stays the comfortable quiet of early morning, then Shima says, “Meh, I’m pretty much awake now. I’ll stay down here with you.” Standing across from Rin at the island in the center of the room, Shima asks, “We got a quiz today. Want me to test you? If you aren’t getting any sleep you better know the material like the back of your hand.”

Placing fresh vegetables into the bento in front of him Rin graciously accepts Shima’s offer. After thinking for a few moments, Shima asks a question aloud before Rin gives a speedy and correct response.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two at once because I feel like it and because you all have been so patient,,,
> 
> I'm thinking I may tack that alternate storyline to the end of this fic (after I finish posting this one). ya know, like have the start of chapter four be a branch point? idk, just kinda ranting and thinking. What do you think?
> 
> special thanks to **RedRobinLover7** for being the only person to answer the question I posted at the end of ch 3 and special thanks to everyone else who's left a happy comment on this story. you're all amazing, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

“Well, you look absolutely dead this morning,” Kaoru calls in the halls. 

He swings his arm around Rin making sure he’s carrying absolutely none of his own weight. Rin buckles slightly under the unexpected pressure, but he regains his center of balance. With a glare, Rin tells him harshly, “Then leave me alone.”

“But that’s no fun.” He shoots Rin a feigned pout, “Do you have Haru’s lunch at least?” He nods. Out of the corner of his eye Rin sees Shiemi, so he decides to lead Kaoru to his homeroom in order to hand over the lunch he made Haruna without Shiemi seeing. 

“Ay, this is neat. You should make me one tomorrow, too. ‘Kay? Well, gotta go.” 

Rin takes a second to run his fingers through his hair, then he makes his way to class. 

 

That afternoon, Yukio goes with Rin to his teachers. Rin takes his time explaining things they don’t know or understand, and after, he bashfully, or rather anxiously, proposes ways they could alter some of the work or their teaching styles to better accommodate him. Although his friends have been doing their best to help his scenario, they can only do so much. 

In many of his classes teachers agree to stray from fancy header and body text fonts, but these along with other accommodations with which Rin is now associated cause Kaoru and Haruna’s insults to raise in his mind again. He also has the opportunity to take any exam auditorily now, too. Although thankful for the accommodations, Rin walks out of the final class with Yukio, frustrated tears burning behind his eyes.

“That wasn’t so bad was it? Just them knowing should help a lot.” Yukio casts a hopeful look to Rin, but the response is limited to a small ‘whatever.’ Any excitement or pride Yukio held on his face quickly fades.

 

As the next month or so passes, Rin’s grades seem to rise slightly much to everyone’s pleasure, Rin’s included. Though Rin’s grades had broken their plateau, he’d been getting less sleep and spending more time away from his friends. 

Rin had no choice but to introduce the group to Kaoru and Haruna in order to get them off his back. The two had put on their best selves when introduced to the exorcist class, and they treated Rin nicer than they had ever before. For a moment, Rin had thought there was a chance for things with Kaoru and Haruna to not be terrible. Unfortunately, as soon as they walked out of the public line of sight that same day, they reverted to their old ways.

Although some of Rin’s sudden disappearances suddenly had an explanation, there was still one thing bothering the group. In particular, Yukio became extremely worried. Rin had basically stopped eating lunch. For the most part, he’d still eat with the group on weekends, but during the week he had an excuse most every day as to why he had no lunch. Still, Yukio and Rin’s food funds were actually going down faster than they had in previous months. No matter how Yukio tried to explain the worry away, there was no solution logical enough to calm him. He could see his brother losing weight from the stress of not sleeping properly nor eating properly.

That’s how, on another one of Rin’s mysterious outings to who knows where, Yukio brings the subject up as everyone is eating dinner. Since no one can explain away the possibility that there is a missing puzzle piece which Rin simply won’t tell them, they all remain slightly on edge. However, they decide to wait for a bit longer to talk to Rin about it in hopes that things will even out over the following few weeks. 

Instead, the worst happens. Rather than raising or plateauing, Rin’s grades start to simultaneously fall in all his classes. 

“Why are you so worried about your grades falling anyway, the only reason they’ve gone up at all is because they are treating you like a second grader.” In front of Rin, Haruna attempts to explain away Rin’s anxieties.

“And you thought we were screwin’ with ya when we told ya about our friend who’d change your grades didn’t ya?”

“It wouldn’t matter if he did or didn’t, you did shit on your last few quizzes and tests anyway, you good-for-nothing.”

“No shit,” Rin yells, “I haven’t slept in, like, four days! I can’t handle you guys and school! What do you even get out of taunting me like this?”

“Aw… angered the half-wit, did we?” Kaoru’s voice stings Rin’s ears

“At the very least Kaoru and I get free lunch every day. At most… I get to fuck with the headmaster and his favorite exorcist class.”

Kaoru laughs and nudges Haruna, “Wonder how things would be different if ya got in?”

She turns with a cold glare, “Take this as a warning to shut up, Kaoru.” Looking at Rin again, she states, “If you don’t want your grades to slip any lower, you ought to repurpose your time. I'm sure it's more than doable.” Though a few inches shorter than Rin, she pushes right past him, bumping his shoulder harshly in the process.

That day, Rin stops going to lunch with his friends entirely. Instead he uses every minute to do the homework he won’t have time to do later. 

“Where’s Rin,” Shiemi asks as she pulls out her lunch.

“He said he’s going to the library to study and do homework,” Yukio explains.

For the moment, the excuse suffices, but as one day turns into two, then three, then a week, that answer stops being enough. They never see him anymore. When they do, he tiredly makes eye contact with them before quickly excusing himself again. If Rin’s caught asleep the one who found him is filled with relief. His sleep schedule seems non-existent, too. Still, somehow, miraculously, he finds time to make at least one stellar meal a day for his friends. 

So one weekend, when Rin states that he would be gone for the day but back for dinner, his friends decide to prepare everything for his return. 

Yukio was assigned to organizing and maintaining his and Rin’s room, Izumo and Bon were given the task of dinner preparation, Shima undertook all the smaller tasks such as dusting and wiping down tables, and Konekomaru and Shiemi looked over Rin’s notes, assigned textbook pages, and homework so they could create study materials and summarize topics in hopes of helping him finish his work early and get a decent night’s sleep. 

As Yukio is straightening up Rin desk, however, he comes across a folded piece of paper which has its corner just barely peeking out from the side of a notebook. Grabbing the books spiral spine, he opens it to properly get the paper. He unfolds it hoping to figure out what class notes it should be placed with, but when Yukio reads the somewhat sloppy, definitely-not-his-brother’s handwriting, he finds himself needing to read the note again: _We know a guy who’s got some connections and is pretty decent at hacking. You better think about your situation carefully or else your we’ll get him to fuck with your grades._

That’s when Yukio starts thinking back to the overall decrease in Rin’s grades. Someone has been tampering with them. Yukio finds himself wondering things such as who wrote the note, why did Rin keep this paper, how long has this been happening, why didn’t Rin come to him. All his life, Rin has been pretty open with Yukio; the only thing he hasn’t been open with him about is his dyslexia, but Yukio can’t find a correlation between these two things. 

Later that day, Yukio shows the note to the others, but he instructs, “I don’t want to bring this up tonight. When Rin gets back, I want him to just be happy. I want him to not be stressed tonight, so we are going to pretend it doesn’t exist just for tonight. Rin is going to smile, and we are going to make him feel like there isn’t a single thing wrong in his world.”

Just as Yukio had told them, when Rin gets back, the strong smell of a freshly prepared dinner berates him. Being invited to the dinner table, a smile tugs at Rin’s lips and asks what the fuss is about. “You deserve a day’s rest is all,” Shiemi explains.

Thankful for the change in pace, Rin happily fills up his plate with warm vegetables and rice along with amaturely seasoned but delicious meat. Conversation stays light-hearted even when Rin hesitates before redirecting the conversation away from himself. Although each person in the room takes note of the moment, they quickly file the memory away to keep the conversation going. 

At the end of the meal, Rin informs the group that he’s going to get his homework and notes, so Yukio accompanies him by saying that he wants to get his own things. When Rin opens the door to their room, though, he’s shocked to see his bed made, his desk more organized than it had been in the past year, and things without a place resting on his dresser. 

Facing Yukio, Rin asks in pleasant shock, “Did you do this?” Yukio shrugs with a laugh in response as Rin slowly wanders around the small room. Placing a hand on the edge of his now spacious desk, Rin turns, “You didn’t need to go out of your way, Yukio.” A moment later, though, with a twinkle in his eyes, Rin continues, “But thank you.” 

Grabbing their bags, the two make their way back downstairs. 

 

“I can’t believe we actually got the idiot to do a drug deal.” Haruna looked at the small, clear bag in front of them. She explodes in laughter, “And I can’t believe he didn’t get caught either! Guess the good-for-nothing _does_ have some good points. Sly as shit. That’s fact!” 

“You actually wanna use this stuff, Haru,” Kaoru wonders aloud, “We were just messin’ with the dude. Right?”

Taking the bag in her hands, Haruna explains, “Hey, he’s a dimwit, but he went through hell to get this.” She smiles and puts the bag in her coat pocket before grabbing Kaoru by the wrist, “May as well have some fun. Get over here!”

With his one free hand, Kaoru pulls his jacket closer to him. The sting of cool early winter air flushes across his face. Unsure of where Haruna is going, he tries to pull his hand away, “Hey, chill. Haru, let up!” He frees himself, “Where’re we going? It’s night, and it’s fuckin’ cold out!”

“Just calm down, Kaoru. In about fifteen minutes you won’t even feel that it’s cold.” Uncertainty flashes across her friend’s face, and she scoffs, “Come on. Are you scared? Did your parents drill it into your head that some stupid drug would be the end of you? Hundreds, thousands, ten thousands of people have done this. This isn’t even the good stuff. It’s baby stuff!” She tugs on Kaoru’s sleeve but just to drag him in her direction. “Come on,” she instructs and starts walking forward again.

Wary but at a loss for words, Kaoru jogs to catch up with Haruna before following directly behind her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me updating in a semi-timely manner :)  
> only one more chapter after this!

“Oh, Kaoru’s been a bit short on money these past couple days…” Izumo had caught Rin putting an extra lunch in his bag. Although he could have easily explained that he wouldn’t be home until late and wanted to pack an extra meal for dinner, his mind failed him in the moment. “Things should go back to normal with him once he gets his next paycheck, but I figured I’d help him out until then.” Rin zipped up his back and placed it over his shoulders. 

“That’s nice, Rin, but…” Izumo holds her own suspicions about Rin’s new friends, and everything she knew about them bred nothing but uncertainty. The two groups had met only once, and Rin wasn’t eager for them to meet again. Furthermore, he would turn away most any questions regarding the two. 

“But what?”

“It’s nice, but you shouldn’t just give your lunch away. Besides that’s only one meal.” Although trying to handle the situation delicately, Izumo doesn’t exactly have the experience needed to maintain a calm hold on the situation, “Just get Haruna to give up her meal.”

“Sorry?”

“You said they’ve known each other forever, so just let them take care of themselves.” Rin doesn’t have the energy to counter Izumo’s words, but he can’t find it in him to want to either. “Sure, give her the lunch you’ve already made, but come sit with us for lunch today.”

Though he understands that he owes Kaoru and Haruna nothing, he can’t simply detach himself from them. His past self thought for sure that he would have the situation under control by now, but current events were serving to prove him wrong.

“I’ve got to study for the quiz.”

“Then we’ll help you.”

Realizing he’s unable to find a way out of hole he dug himself, Rin agrees to meet them for lunch before heading to school. 

 

At the academy, Rin goes to explain the morning's occurrences to Kaoru and Haruna, but they have no plans of hearing any of it. 

Rin tells them he needs to keep one of the lunches for him since Izumo saw him put two lunches in his bag and she explicitly stated that she thinks one is his. Then he goes on to explain that he needs to use lunch to sit with his brother and friends as they need to help him study. Although he had no plans on studying for the upcoming quiz, it’s the best excuse he can come up with that’s halfway true. 

“What good is studying going to do?” Haruna hisses her question. “As if you’ve got the brains to pass. If you don’t know now, you never will.”

With a laugh, Kaoru agrees, “Well, she’s not wrong.”

“And we don’t give a crap that you want lunch. You should have made an extra for yourself. Hand them over.” Pulling the bentos out of his bag, Rin wonders how he can explain away his friend’s concern. “Thanks, illiterati.” The two snatch their lunches.

They push Rin out of the way, and he whispers to himself, “Illiterati…”

Haruna calls over her shoulder, “That’s right! Don’t know what it means do you?” 

So there the two leave him in the middle of the hall. 

 

Just as Rin shows up to the lunch table and swings his bag over his shoulder, a teacher walks up behind him. “Rin Okumura?”

“Yeah?”

“Mephesto would like to see you.”

“And why can’t he come here himself.” He gets no response, so with a sigh, he says, “Fine. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“I’m sorry, but I need to escort you.”

Rin looks over his shoulder at his friends, but they say nothing. At that, Rin walks away wordlessly with the teacher. 

 

“I might be expelled.”

“Rin, how… What even happened?” Yukio sits baffled as he listens to his brothers words. 

“I don’t want to tell you that.” Rin’s words are firm, but anxiety sits in his chest. “I’ll try to get this cleared up as quick as possible, but I figured I should tell you that at the very least.”

“At the very least, you should be telling me why you could be expelled!” Yukio’s voice rises slightly, but Rin knows the tone shift expresses Yukio’s conern more than annoyance. However, after just a second, Yukio regains a hold of his emotions. “Look, Rin, can I at least ask if Kaoru and Haruna are involved?”

Hesitance shows itself on Rin’s face, and in a tentative voice, he asks, “How do you know that?”

Walking over to his desk, Yukio pulls out the note he found in Rin’s notebook. “I found this when cleaning the room a couple days ago, and I know it isn't your handwriting.” He gives Rin a chance to reread the letter. The silence is louder than any words that could be said at the moment. “I don’t think you should hang out with them any more. Whatever’s been going on, you need to talk to me.”

“... I was coded for drug possession,” Rin explains without making eye contact. Yukio’s eyes grow wider, and Rin continues, “I’m pretty sure Haruna and Kaoru set me up.”

“Why?”

Rin takes a seat on his bed, “Well, don’t kill me, but I ended up doing a drug deal for them. Then a couple other things happened, and I’m pretty sure they just want some sort of petty revenge on me. I’ve got a handle on this, though.”

“You don’t have a handle on any of this, Rin! You wouldn’t have gotten involved with any type of drugs if you did!”

Soon enough, tears start to well in Rin’s eyes. As much as he tries to hold his emotions back, he raises his hands to his face to dry his eyes. As Yukio watches his brother’s hunched over, crying figure, he takes a seat directly next to Rin and pulls him close. As Rin leans hard into Yukio, neither of the two say anything for a minute.

“I’m sorry I’m useless.”

His words shake as fervently as his body. Since Yukio knows Rin isn’t in a logical state of mind to accept his rejection of that apology, Yukio only continues to rub circles into Rin’s back. Unsure of what else to do for the moment, Yukio starts reciting from the bible hoping to distract Rin from his overwhelming emotions.

The soft murmurs, although although nothing but a cluster of indecipherable sounds at the start, slowly start to calm Rin and ease the tightness in his chest. As Rin begins to calm down, Yukio speaks, letting Rin continue to hold himself close as he does, “I want you to tell me everything you’ve been holding back. I’ll sit here awake all night if I have to.”

Just like that, at first slowly, then like a flood, Rin starts explaining what he’s been dealing with. “You know,” he starts with a pained laugh, “I’ve been taunted ever since I was a kid — a demon child — you think I’d be used to this by now.” He explains to Yukio the absolutely brainwashing names and insults which berated him daily, most being a direct result of Haruna and Kaoru.

Good-for-nothing, moron, half-wit, illiterati… 

Then there were the new ones — ones even Rin hadn’t heard before coming to True Cross Academy. As Rin lists the words one by one, Yukio frowns as he bites his tongue. Now isn’t the time to interrupt. He merely continues holding Rin close as his words continue to flow. Words aside, that didn't even include the daily emotional manipulation he'd been facing. 

Things only turn from bad to worse as Rin apologized for making an extra lunch each day — an extra lunch which took away from their “limited student funds.” He admits that the hadn’t eaten lunch at school, or in general lately, for the last few months. At this point, he didn’t care. He’d lost most of his appetite anyway. Furthermore, the lack of sleep was affecting him more than he’d like to admit. 

Finally, Rin gets into the the strike he'd received for drug prosession. Before anything, he apologizes to Yukio about using so much money to go behind his back then get in trouble. “I can skip dinner for a while. You need the energy to become paladin. A few missed meals until the end of the month won’t kill me.” His voice holds no discernible resistance. Those words are to be taken as fact, not as a question. This is when Yukio feels his arm resting lightly against his brother’s ribs. Nothing too prominent, but more than enough to cause concern, even more so given that Rin is so willing to give up another meal.

“You won’t be doing that, Rin.” Yukio rubs small circles onto Rin’s skin. “Even if there was that much of an issue, we’d figure it out.” A few moments later, “Does Mephesto know?”

“What doesn’t that bastard know,” Rin says despite having mentioned nothing to the aforementioned headmaster.

Yukio calls a minute later, “Rin?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you eat lunch and dinner with our group again?” He receives a soft nod in response which ruffles Rin’s hair against his shirt.

The two sit in their silent cluster longer, but out of nowhere, Rin takes a deep breath as he raises his head from Yukio’s chest. Rubbing his eyes and shaking drowsiness from his mind, Rin mumbles, “I’ve got to study some… or maybe I should cook first.”

Looking to his brother, Yukio asks, “You aren’t cooking for them, right?”

“I’m cooking dinner for us first.”

He notices Rin’s lack of denial. “Can I join you?”

 

Shima gestures at Rin from across the dinner table, “You look hella drained,” then to Yukio, “And you look hella conflicted.” He opens his next question to both of them, “So what’re you guys brooding about?”

Inwardly cursing Shima for his directness and absolute incapability of reading the atmosphere, Yukio glances at Rin. “You should tell them.” Rin only looks at him, saying nothing. Although they’ve spent a lifetime together, Yukio’s only seen the expression that's currently on his brother's face a small number of times, yet, even after not seeing that face for months, or even years, it takes Yukio only an instant to recognize the unspoken meaning.

“Rin could be expelled — or in the Grigori’s language: killed — because, well, because of the situation he’s been coerced into.” Puzzled, concerned gazes meet Yukio’s stoic one during the moment he takes to collect his thoughts. “He was set up as part of a drug deal and was coded for drug possession.” Bon’s line of sight shifts to Rin, but he’s unable to make eye contact before Rin averts his gaze. Yukio continues, “Haruna and Kaoru, they’ve been blackmailing Rin to do whatever–”

“It wasn’t blackmail,” Rin interrupts in a whisper.

Not allowing room for argument, Yukio deadpans, “It was blackmail. Rin has been blackmailed into doing whatever they needed, whatever they wanted. At this point, I wouldn’t put it past them to mess with him merely for some sadistic pleasure.”

Shiemi casts an unreceived gaze of concern.

“That’s… that’s messed up,” Konekomaru struggles.

“That’s bullshit is what it is.” Bon.

A prolonged silence befalls the group, but at some point Kamiki adds, “You should consult the headmaster.”

Honestly, Rin laughs, “I doubt he’d care in the slightest.”

And with a final sigh, Bon says, “Looks like we’ve got someone’s ego and confidence to rebuild.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honest to god don't know why it took me so long to post this work from start to finish... I'm usually much better than this. Especially considering the entire work was already written when I posted the first chapter;;; enjoy!

“This is certainly troubling.” A mocking, deceitful smirk shows prominently on Mephesto’s features. Leaning forward eagerly, his hands together and fingers laced, he continues, “Not only have these two somehow breached our grade system security,” his eyes shift curiously to Rin, “They’ve managed to interrupt the education of one of my prized students.”

After popping a treat in his mouth, Mephesto looks to Yukio, “I will handle this. As for you, my dear teacher, you’ve got a job to complete. Don’t you?” Letting implications complete his words, Yukio nods. “I see you now understand an initial action is nothing without the following commitment to back it up.” A chuckle. “Any demon should know that. Right, my little brothers?”

Rin sends a glare to Mephesto, but Yukio stands tall as he holds Mephesto’s gaze firmly. His words are always a maze of uncertainty, but as if a path has been paved in front of him by Mephesto, he knows exactly how to move forward. 

The brothers leave the office, and Yukio takes out a key to quickly make their way back. With a scoff, Rin tells Yukio, “Shifty bastard couldn’t speak without riddles if he tried.” Yukio can only hum in agreement as he’s already lost in his thoughts.

Although the two had been given some extra money for the month as reparation for the money spent on Kaoru and Haruna, even the knowledge that money and food would be available again didn’t return Rin’s appetite to full strength. 

Still, he happily accompanies Yukio to the market. They pick out a few handfuls of produce then head home so Rin can prepare the group a nice warm dinner. Although Rin indulges as per usual, his small appetite does nothing to make the meal easier.

 

The following day, Rin has a packed bento for himself for the first time in months. As he walks into school, his shoulders are tense but much less so in comparison to the few days prior. However, in one of his cram school classes, a teacher calls for him at the end of the day’s lecture. She reaches for a paper in her binder, turning it around to face Rin. He reads the score of forty-three which is written in bold red ink at the top of the page. “What’s been going on, Rin? Your grades are falling again.”

“Just something outside of classes,” he deflects.

The teacher takes a moment to think. “I know you’ve rejected the notion up to now, but would an auditory exam really not benefit you? It’s no trouble.”

He stares at the test for a moment before shaking his head in denial. “I’ll keep the grade.”

She watches him, but Rin doesn’t lift his gaze. She waits for another answer, but none comes. Lifting the paper from the desk, she scans its front page before replacing it in her binder with a _click_ of the rings. After closing the plastic covering and resting her hands on its cool surface, she holds Rin’s gaze firmly — too firmly for him to have the courage or audacity to look away. “Name the most powerful ruler of the _Heian_ period and describe two of their achievements.”

He responds to her question. 

“You earned zero points on this question according to the written assessment.” Unable to break eye contact, she sees his jaw clench; however, his arms hang limply at his side. She tells Rin, “I’ll see you tomorrow after your exorcist classes?”

“... Yes, ma’am.”

 

Rin watches as the teacher circles question after question. He sees her mark a few wrong, but as he gives his final answer, she returns the paper, “Seventy-three percent.”

In awe at the near instant improvement, Rin can’t help but let a small smile blossom on his face. For a moment, none of his insecurities bother him. He’s just glad that maybe he’s really as bright as people told him he could never be.

With the news of his dramatic improvement resting on the tip of his tongue as he enters his room, Yukio faces the door at the sound of the doorknob turning. Upon seeing Rin trying to contain his excitement, he asks with a laugh, “So how did it go?”

“Okay, so, like, although there were some other things that were going on when the quiz was first given, the score went up almost thirty points!”

“You should go back to some of your other teachers and ask them to make up some of their assignments. Especially since Mephesto is now requiring that all your teachers accommodate you disregarding their bigoted opinions. Also, with all the stuff you’ve dealt with lately, you’re in a position to ask for retakes, paper or otherwise.”

Rin slings his sword from his shoulder and rests it against the wall between his bed and side table. As he starts unbuttoning his academy outer vest, he says to Yukio hesitantly, “I mean, I don’t want to take up any extra time for my teachers. This grade boost was cool, but the teacher herself came to me… besides, do I really want to go up to a teacher who hates me or thinks I am just a dumb kid who’s made up a fake problem for sympathy?”

He doesn’t receive a response as he pulls a casual shirt over his head, so when his vision is unobstructed again, he watches Yukio state, “You disregard their opinion just as they choose to ignore your reality, and if they’re still assholes, tell me.” His brother’s use of profanity absolutely stuns him. He’d only ever heard his goody-two-shoes, four-eyed younger brother curse a handful of times before. “You cared for me when we were younger. Give me a chance to do the same for you now.” Yukio shrugs, “Just as it’s always been, I’ll sooner kill over before someone takes advantage of my brother.”

After some hesitation, Rin nudges Yukio with a smile, “You’re such a softie… thanks.”

With a comfortable quiet, the conversation ends, and Rin slides the chair out from under his desk. Maybe five or ten minutes later, Rin casts a discrete sideways glance in Yukio’s direction hoping to go unnoticed, then after a moment, he asks, “Could you come read this sentence out loud for me?”

 

Over the progression of the next month, Rin starts to become more comfortable asking for some help from his friends; however, according to Shiemi, and verified by Shima, “Rin refuses to speak up outside of the dorms and exorcist classes.” Shiemi tells the group as they wait for Rin to enter class that she’d watched him struggle with one of the assignments that was writing heavy. “I think he wanted me to just read over his stuff to make sure it was right, but… You could see it in his face that he wanted a second opinion!” Her voice trails off.

Kamiki speaks up, “Well, we’ve seen a definite improvement in his comfort level regarding the topic. He’s coming to believe that there really is nothing wrong with a neurodivergent brain.” At that, no one can refute because there has indeed been a noticeable improvement in his self-acceptance. His main issue now is in regards to society's acceptance. 

“Call him out next time.” Bon’s addition to the conversation seems too straight forward, but takes the opportunity to Konekomaru rephrases Bon’s words. 

“Ask him if he wants help the next time you notice. As things are now, he won’t go out of his way to ask you himself. Show him it’s okay to be himself even when it’s not just us around.”

So that’s what Shima does a few days later in the class he and Rin share. History, one of the most language intense classes, likely moreso than the exorcist classes. Old kanji, out of date speech patterns, and nearly illegible fonts and scripts. The fonts are what get Rin this time. The class had been assigned an art analysis. On the ancient piece of art, the black ink of a brush pen displays a single line of text prominently against the rest of the faded picture. The assignment: an essay which addresses the paintings social commentary on the political and economic fallacies at the time. As the endless _scritch_ of pencils fill most of the area around Shima, the paper and pencil to his side remain completely untouched. Rin’s face blankley stares at the image in the textbook — more specifically, the text. Shima follows Rin’s gaze and realizes this. 

Leaning in and nudging his friend, Shima whispers, “Is the font too hard to read?” His question is indirect enough for their neighbors to be none the wiser but specific enough for the two to understand its underlying meaning. 

Rin doesn’t even bat an eye before answering, delighted that Shima put effort into not drawing attention to the situation, “Yeah, it’s a bit fancy isn’t it?”

Indicating each part of the sentence with his finger, Shima explains to Rin quietly, “The bird no longer sings.” Rin nods slowly, and with a laugh, Shima adds, “Hell of a caption, huh? It barely is connected to the rest of the picture.” He places a pat on Rin’s shoulder, “Well, ya better put those BS-ing skills to work.” From then on, the sound of one more pencil scratching against paper makes the room feel complete. A mere few questions shared between the boys are all which disrupts the flow of knowledge. 

 

One by one, small changes begin to appear in Rin, each one helping him to become a brighter, more confident version of himself. For a moment, someone may notice signs of regression, but the following day it becomes evident that a moment of regression was just that: a moment. 

Rin himself comes to learn that the road to self-acceptance may not be linear, but he can feel the difference in himself. Just as he had needed to take time to accept his demon lineage, he needed time to accept his neurodivergence. Neither takes a day, but each happens eventually.

With that in mind, one day the following year when his only exorcist class companion was sick and absent, he found himself lightly calling out to the student in front of him, “Um, excuse me.” It takes the kid a minute to realize Rin is talking to them. They turn with a hum, “What’s up? Rin, right?”

He smiles, his voice quiet but bright, “I’m kind of surprised you know,” he turns his paper to face them, “Can you read this sentence out loud for me?”

“What? What’s wrong? Can’t you?”

“I have dyslexia,” he states, “It makes reading hard. Now, could you please read this out loud for me?”


End file.
